The present invention relates to an articulated apparatus which enables stereographic and textual content to be conveyed and presented to the user in a manner similar and related to a book; a brochure; and a format for advertisement and presentation in concert with pre-existing publishing and packaging formats.
The present invention may also be configured with transparent sleeves which operate in a manner similar to a plurality of pivotally-mounted pages, so it may convey stereographic photoprints mounted back-to-back in a manner similar to a photo album.
The present invention can convey high resolution stereographic digital hard copies sent and received via an electronic network, to be printed at the site of reception, and then mounted into the device.
The present invention can be configured to convey stereographic charts and maps to enhance the user""s comprehension of geographical and topological features.
More particularly, the present invention as contemplated herein is directed to providing a stereographic device which is very affordable to produce with pre-existing materials and manufacturing techniques extant in the publishing industry, including materials such as cardboard, bristol board, fabric, linen, etc. (with the exception of the lens elements, which are plastic or glass) and with such manufacturing methods as die-cutting, folding, laminating, etc. and other pre-established methods of fastening and page binding, including staple, wire, etc. The present invention can be secured together and also releasably secured into a storage configuration with various printable adhesives, tapes and also tab and slot fastening techniques common to the traditional publishing industry and well known to those skilled in the art. However, the present invention should not be limited to these suggested aspects of material preference and said rendering techniques, as other means may be utilized to render the device in its various configurations.
Stereographic/stereoscopic devices are numerous and various in type and well-known in the art. Generally, a stereoscope is an optical instrument configured to view stereographic imagery. The primary objective of the stereoscopic/stereographic art is to provide the user with a visual medium that approximates the experience of natural human visual perception of three-dimensional space. Depth perception is a phenomenon that naturally occurs as the right and left eyes each perceive simultaneously the spacial world in parallax, from two slightly different, horizontally displaced perspective viewpoints, which the brain fuses together and interprets, providing three-dimensional perception. A stereographic image typically consists of two separate images produced in a flat, planar, two-dimensional medium. The images of corresponding left and right perspective views are appropriately positioned next to each other so that their perspective viewpoints are horizontally displaced from each other by a distance that corresponds to the average inter-pupillary distance of the left and right eyes. The two images, commonly referred to as a stereograph or a stereo-pair, when viewed with an optical viewer possessing two lenses with the appropriate optical and focal properties, enable each eye to see the corresponding image intended for it, thereby creating in the brain a perceived three-dimensional effect.
The present invention is designed to take advantage of the high-tech synthesizing power of computer imaging as well as high resolution digital printing to provide an affordable, accessible stereographic book that is capable of communicating complex three-dimensional visual concepts which are accompanied and augmented with textual information. Because of its ability to store and convey both stereographic imagery and readable text, the present invention can be utilized extensively for educational and entertainment purposes. In particular, the present invention is useful for visual novels and children""s books, including reading primers, and also as an affordable, take-home visualization tool and study aid in the fields of chemistry, molecular biology, medicine, architecture, artistic sculpture, and other areas which benefit from seeing and understanding complex three-dimensional imagery.
Stereoscopic Viewer
The stereoscopic viewer, including its various adaptations as disclosed herein, has the primary objective of conveying stereographic content to the user. Further, the objective is to simulate natural human vision and to inclusively provide an immersive, full-field-of-view stereographic viewing experience to a wide audience, especially those who do not have access to expensive electronic systems.
One of the key capabilities necessary to achieve this objective is interocular adjustment. The present viewer substantially improves this capability over the previously disclosed and claimed embodiments of this inventor""s work as originally filed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,136, wherein interocular adjustment was achieved by configuring the lenses to be adjustable to the user""s individual interpupillary distance, with occluding apertures in a fixed and integral position in the viewer body. This capability is effective to a certain extent, however, it is determined that remarkably improved perception of the immersive image field can be attained by configuring the apertures which frame the left and right images to also be adjustable, to therewith enable right-stereographic content to be occluded from the left eye viewpoint and left-stereographic content to be occluded from the right-eye viewpoint, respectively.
Further, adjustable occluding apertures greatly improve the user""s ability to fine-tune and thus see an immersive visual-field that simulates natural vision, with a central stereo-field bordered by left and right peripheral monocular fields. The apertures"" close proximity to the user""s eyes renders the perception of the shielding edges of the apertures as a soft blur. This soft blur of occlusion is actually very important, because it blends said stereo and mono fields seamlessly together, to create an immersive visual field.
It is annotated that the viewer of the present invention may be configured with any type of lense optics common to the stereoscopic art, including but not limited to the double convex, double convex wedge, plano convex, piano convex wedge, anastigmatic and any other optical lense form or arrangement of lense forms which facilitate optical utilization of the stereoscopic viewer.
The pivotal geometries of the chassis portions designated herein as the viewer pivotal chassis (VPC) achieves a substantial improvement over the previous viewer pivotal array (VPA) geometries disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,136, specifically in embodiments 13C, 14D, and 15E of said patent, which are concerned with enabling the device to achieve a first and second viewing position so that two pivotally-exposed stereographic pages may be viewed sequentially. The VPC geometries presently contemplated achieve not only first and second viewing positions, but are also capable of a linear scanning movement between the first and second viewing positions while retaining focus of the two pivotally-exposed pages. This enables stereographic content on said pages to be arranged in new ways, for example, a double-page spread of a single stereographic image can be viewed. This viewing procedure provides a sensation similar to one surveying a space with binoculars, in the aspect that one can roam and traverse up and down the double page spread and the 3D space of the image. This capability cannot be achieved by the VPA geometries of said previous embodiments. The present VPC geometries are substantially different as to function, and also achieve said functional articulation with a greater economy of pivotal movement. Other distinctions between said previously disclosed VPA geometries and the present VPC geometries are:
Specifically, said previous VPA geometries as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,136 in embodiments 13C, 14D, and 15E in FIGS. 29, 30, and 34, 35 respectively, indicates a mid-point pivotal axis which is required to rotate approximately 180xc2x0 from the first viewing position to the second viewing position. This is easily discernable in said Figs., as the mid-point pivot apex is in an inverse position in the first viewing position and then shifts approximately 180xc2x0 to an obverse position in the second viewing position. This reciprocal angular shift is repeated as the pages are pivoted and viewed and can be considered appropriate if placed in the context of the preferred materials of plastic and metal, as contemplated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,136, where a repeated and high degree of pivotal flex is easily withstood.
However, the embodiments presently contemplated herein are directed towards material preferences and manufacturing techniques that are traditional to the publishing industry, i.e. cardboard and fabric. Said previous VPA geometries as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,136 may rapidly fatigue and damage cardboard and fabric pivotal means, so the present VPC geometries disclosed herein are contemplated as pivotal solutions to these material concerns. However, it should be understood that these stated aspects of material preference do not exclude the application and rendering of these herein disclosed pivotal configurations with other materials and techniques, i.e. the present invention can also be rendered in plastic or metal or other materials.
According to another aspect of distinction, the present VPC geometries disclosed herein do not require a mid-point pivotal axis to rotate 180xc2x0 as in said previous embodiments. The present VPC geometries do not possess a mid-point pivot and the pivotal axes have been changed so that no pivot apex of the VPC shifts from an inverse to an obverse position. All pivot apexes of the present VPC geometries retain an obverse angular relationship. Further, the present VPC geometries require less pivotal rotation and do not require any pivotal axis to rotate 180xc2x0. Thus, pivotal wear is substantially reduced, and the aforesaid linear scanning function is an additional benefit to the present invention. The drawings disclosed herein will provide a corresponding description of these objectives and said geometries.